Given that Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-W230 ($199.99 direct) has the same 12.1-megapixel "Super HAD" CCD image sensor and "Carl Zeiss" premium lens as the $299 Cyber-shot DSC-T90, you'd expect them to produce pictures of identical quality. But that's not the case: In terms of image sharpness, the T90 blows the W230 out of the watera difference that might make it worth the extra cash.

Cosmetically, the W230 is a bit big compared to other point-and-shoots; it measures 3.75 by 2.25 by 0.88 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.44 ounces. Our review was (officially) "Red," but it looked more to me like hot pink (it's also available in black, blue, and silver finishes). The camera's big build feels more like Casio's Exilim EX-FC100 than Sony's other slickly designed point-and-shoots like the T90 and T77to be fair, though, both of those cameras are pricier and have touch screens. The W230 uses Sony's premium Carl Zeiss lens (unusual on a camera at this price), which offers 4X optical zoom with a focal length of 5.3521.4mm (the 35mm equivalent: 30120mm), with a maximum f-stop range of f/2.8 to f/7.1.

Controls on the W230 work well and are comfortable to use. A four-direction navigation pad lets you quickly maneuver through menus. The topside shutter release is fat, long, and easy to press. The zoom trigger is a single button at the right of the LCD; the button is arched so you don't need to move your thumb from one side to the other, just add pressure. Personally, I'd prefer a trigger mounted on the top of the camera, as on the Canon SD780 IS or Nikon Coolpix S230.

The user interface is top-notch for a point-and-shoot. Features and options are labeled with large icons and descriptions that are cast over the onscreen image for a semi-3D effect. The "home" menu, which lets you adjust settings like slideshow music, date and time, and printing looks and behaves like the "Xross Media Bar" Sony includes on its HDTVs, PlayStation 3, and even its Lifestyle PC netbook.

The LCD on the W230 is decent, measuring 3 inches (in a 4:3 aspect ratio) and packing 230,400 pixels. Images look sharp, but there's a noticeable amount of motion blur when you use it to frame shots. The blur isn't as bad as on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX48, but it's definitely more than on your average point-and-shoot. The 3-inch, 16:9 LCD screen on the pricier Sony T90 is much sharper and shows less motion blur.

The W230 has very respectable shooting speeds. The camera can power up, focus, and snap a shot in an average of just 3.46 seconds. After that, you only have to wait 1.83 seconds between shotsextremely fast for a point-and-shoot, and even faster than the Editors' Choice Canon PowerShot A1000 IS, which averaged 2.81 seconds. In the Shooting-Digital.com shutter lag test, the W230 averaged 0.52 second of shutter lag, also a good result. With the exception of the Canon A1000 (which averages 0.49 second), only pricier cameras put you into the 0.4 second range.

In our photography lab, I use the Imatest suite to objectively analyze image-quality factors. The W230's results were disappointing. The camera's images were crisp in the center, but became extremely soft toward the edges; mild amounts of chromatic aberration (color fringing) were also present; a negligible amount of pin cushion distortion touched the image at the lens's telephoto position; and a bit of barrel distortion bubbled out the image when the lens was at its widest angle.

Imatest measures sharpness in "lines per picture height:" the more lines, the more detail. A 12-megpapixel camera should be able to capture more than 1,800 lines at the center of an image, and the 12.1-megapixel W230 averaged an excellent 2,302 lines. Toward the outer regions, however, it averaged a dismal 711 linessubjects framed anywhere but in the center of the frame will look soft. In the same fuzzy outer regions, the W230 displayed mild amounts of chromatic aberration, which causes color fringing in images with contrasting colors.

(Interestingly, Sony's T90 also produces 12.1-megapixel images via a premium Carl Zeiss lens, but its images pack much more detail, averaging 2,274 lines in the center and 1,874 in the outer regions. This is most likely because the T90's lens variations in its focal length and mechanics.)

The W230 did a good job of keeping noise low up to and including ISO 800, though you always sacrifice some sharpness at higher ISOs. The higher ISO settings are better for shooting in low light without a flash. The W230 can go up to ISO 3200, but like most point-and-shoots it takes photos that are so grainy at that ISO that they're practically unusable.

The camera is loaded with features you'd usually find only on high-end models: Face detection, Smile Shutter (which automatically shoots when a subject smiles), Intelligent Scene Recognition (which automatically optimizes shots from five different lighting conditions), and Advanced Intelligent Scene Recognition (which captures two images with different settings so you can later choose which you prefer). In playback mode you have the option of playing a slideshow with music, correcting red eye, applying effects (such as removing color from or adding soft focus to part of the image), all of which are easy to implement. Sony gives you virtually all the advanced shooting and editing effects you'd find in more expensive cameras like the $299 T90 or $499 Cyber-Shot DSC-G3, but for $200.

Standard-definition video recorded by the W230 looks great, but keep in mind that HD video recording is taking the point-and-shoot category by storm. For $50 more, Sony sells an almost identical model called the DSC-W290 which records 720p HD video. (See HD Video For Every Budget for more point and shoots that capture HD video.)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 has a lot going for ita great user interface with lots of shooting and editing features, fast shooting speeds, and a decent pricebut it loses ground where it counts the most: image quality. For the same price, the Canon PowerShot A1000 IS will take much better photos. Or if you want stick with Sony, for $100 more you can get terrific images, HD video, and a fun-to-use touch screen with the T90. The super-compact $280 Canon PowerShot 780 IS could also be a good alternative.

PJ Jacobowitz is PCMag.com's Analyst for Digital Cameras. He has been with PCMag.com since September of 2006 and has appeared on MSNBC, CW11, ABCNY, XM Satellite Radio and CNN Radio as a correspondent for PCMag.com....

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